The first time I ever coupled history with creativity I was twelve years old. My wood workshop teacher had arranged for my class to put on a play at the local museum for the visitors of the touring Pompeii exhibition. As part of the playwright team, it was my job to dramatise the letters of Pliny the Younger. I had never even heard of a primary source before. It was all terribly exciting.

I went on to study Celtic Civilisation and Classical Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen and Lund University respectively. In 2007 I defended a BA dissertation on the topic of dynastic imagery in Ancient Greek coins from Afghanistan. Afterwards I spent some time working in Heritage Education, teaching the public about Stone Age life. I have also participated on archaeological excavations in the Caucasus and in the Middle East.

Today I write Ancient History fulltime, with special interest in cultures spelled with a hyphen, magic and diet.